World of Warships Preview

 World of Warships is an upcoming naval MMO from the brilliant creators of World of Tanks, Wargaming. The overall setup for World of Warships is very similar to Wargaming’s other successful games; World of Tanks and World of Warplanes. The game’s ships are period specific which are divided by nationality and are then divided even further by tiers of power. Upon logging in, you are brought to your port in which you can see your armada of awaiting ships. On top of that you are presented with a series of menus that allow you to purchase and upgrade ships and their various components. You then get to choose your ship and are put into a queue to await the vast open space that is the sea.

It will take some time for you to come across an enemy ship and while it may seem strange that the game does not throw you into combat immediately, the moment you do spot an enemy ship it’s all hands on deck because hell is about to break loose.
Each ship plays a very different role and each is essential to help win the battle against the enemy. There are light skirmishers that take advantage of the slow speed of the cruisers who in turn are launching their hellish missiles from afar. Each ship has its weakness and its strengths against each other so combat requires a certain amount of cooperation with your teammates.

The maps are large; very, very large, and trying to get an enormous carrier to traverse such a large amount of space may sound like a slow and dull affair, however that is not the case with World of Warships. Very unlike its brother games, the capabilities of the carriers and other large ships makes it so that you can never be safe from the enemy. While this may sound like typical vehicle warfare, it is a world of strategy and outthinking your opponent more than using brute force.

The cruiser is a ship that is meant for skirmishing with group of other ships that has the power of a battleship but is far smaller and able to launch consistent volleys due to its fast reloading guns. You will need to pick and choose your fights carefully as this ship can be easily destroyed by a battleship. This ship is by far the most complicated and difficult ship to master as it needs you to have a clear understanding of every ship in the game.

The behemoth of ships, the battleship, is a ship that is equipped with an arsenal of long range, insane firepower, and high armor makes this ship a monster to contend with. The ship does have a major vulnerability, a large body that it offers your enemy quite an easy target. This ship is better suited for the outskirts of the map, reigning down massive fire from a distance, because if you put this ship in the middle of the map you will meet your end very quickly.

The carrier is the most intriguing ship by far from my experience in the game. The ship is able to launch planes from its deck that have various abilities. This ship is by no means meant to be used for directly attacking enemy ships, however it does offer your team vision on the enemy ship so that they can use their long range weapons.

The destroyer is definitely a fun ship to play as it is one mean to dive into combat and right back out again. They are the fastest ship when driving in a straight line and one of the smaller ones, making it very hard to hit. They come equipped with torpedoes that can decimate even the largest of ships, and also have a smokescreen so that they can escape after attacking.

World of Warships may not yet have a release date, however I was deeply impressed with my experience so far. I found that the first few fights were a bit difficult to work through, but after that I found myself hooked. Much like World of Tanks I believe that Wargames has found a good way to put out a free-to-play game that is not pay-to-win. If you have had a craving for a strategic naval warfare game, World of Warships is the game for you!